Construction Has Begun At 150 Megawatt Philippines Solar Project

Construction Has Begun At 150 Megawatt Philippines Solar Project

Construction has begun at the largest solar power project in Philippines,
and perhaps in south-east Asia.

Solar Philippines recently announced that it began construction at the
150-megawatt solar PV project at Concepcion. The project will consist of
nearly half a million solar panels spread across 150 hectares. The project
will use locally manufactured solar panels and will also use batteries to
supply electricity round-the-clock.

Leandro Leviste, Solar Philippines president and chief executive, said that
this will be the first solar power project in Philippines which will be
built at a cost lower than that of a coal-based power plant. Developers of
the project want to prove that the cost of solar power generation has
already declined to levels where it can be used to meet base load.

The Concepcion solar power project will initially sell electricity on the
open market while continuing to negotiate with utilities for a long-term
power purchase agreement. Solar Philippines is also working on a 50-megawatt
solar power project which will sell electricity to Manila Electric Co.
through a long-term agreement.

Over the last few months, several project developers have expressed interest
in setting up large-scale solar power projects in the Philippines. After the
Renewable Energy Law was approved in 2008, a surge in renewable energy
capacity addition was seen in the Philippines. The government had announced
a feed-in tariff scheme wherein projects were offered ¢0.21 per kWh. The
tariff scheme attracted overwhelming response from project developers,
forcing the government to expand the capacity under the program from 50
megawatts to 500 megawatts.

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Link to Original Article:
https://cleantechnica.com/2017/04/13/construction-begun-150-megawatt-philipp
ines-solar-project/

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John Diecker
APT Consulting Group Co., Ltd.

www.aptthailand.com